Sources: Teams eye LeBron, Melo pairing

Summary of 2 articles · Updated Jun 24, 2014

LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony have been making national headlines together since ESPN aired a matchup between St. Vincent St. Carmelo’s team beat LeBron’s 72-66 in their first ever matchup, but James has held a slight advantage ever since: He’s compile… (more)d a 14-12 record against Anthony since they were drafted in 2003, including a 4-1 edge in the playoffs. But why continue competing against each other when LeBron and Carmelo could team up? According to ESPN, that’s the question multiple organizations will be asking the superstar friends this summer in hopes of pulling off a free agency coup similar to the Miami Heat’s in 2010. The Lakers have been trying in recent days to package the No. 7 overall pick in Thursday's draft with the expiring contract of Steve Nash to free up enough room to offer James and Anthony at least $16 million each next season to join forces with Kobe Bryant, Shelburne reported. But there are more than 15 teams projected to have significant salary-cap space this summer, raising the possibility that several will try to offload multiple players in conjunction with the draft to create flexibility in the same manner the Heat did in 2010 to create room for their historic free-agent haul.